Refrigerator



7 Nov. 9, 1937. H KAN N 2,098,724

REFRIGERATOR Filed Aug. 6, 1936 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 9, 1937 PATENT OFFHE REFRIGERATOR Martin Hokanson, Duluth,

Minn., assignor to Eidco Inc., Duluth, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application August 6,

9 Claims.

This invention relates to control means for air circulation in refrigerators and has for its principal object the conservation of the refrigerant employedwithin the refrigerator, for example, such as ice in the ordinary household refrigerator, and fundamentally contemplates the employment of an automatically controlled damper installed adjacent a portion of the air circulation conduit within such a refrigerator.

In the ordinary ice refrigerator, particularly in that known as an overhead icer, one of the principal reasons for rapid consumption of ice is that as the food compartment door is opened the surrounding air rushes into the cooling compartment or chamber and greatly increases the ice meltage. Due to the large number of times during each day the food compartment door is opened, the additional ice meltage caused by this condition alone, is considerable.

Furthermore, when the food compartment door is opened and the surrounding warmer air rushed into the cooling compartment it cools off as soon as it contacts the surfaces of the cooling compartment, causing a sweating of these surfaces which drips down into the food compartment and is seriously objectionable to the housewife.

It was therefore thought that a damper placed at the inlet to the cooling compartment and s0 arranged that when the door of the food compartment is opened the damper would be operated to completely close the air passageway to the cooling compartment, and, conversely, when the door is closed the damper would open the air passageway to the cooling compartment. It was furthermore thought that since the temperature requirements in the food compartment may vary from time to time, that this damper should be so arranged that it could be regulated to open varying amounts, independently of its Operation by the door of the food compartment, so that if the temperature requirements in the food compartment would require the damper to be only half opened in order to allow satisfactory circulation for the particular temperature requirements in the food compartment, the damper would close the circulation to the cooling compartment when the door is opened, but when the door is closed the damper would be opened only half way.

By closing the circulation of air to the cooling compartment when the food compartment door is opened, the sweating of the surfaces of the cooling compartment was entirely done away with.

Other of the aims of the invention are, obviously simplicity of construction, efficiency, and adjustability of the control mechanism.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing forming part of this application, and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

1936, Serial No. 94,597

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section, taken through the upper portion of an ordinary refrigerator showing the relation of the door in, closed position to the opening within which it operates.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional View on the line 2--2, Figure 1.

I represents a portion of the front transverse member of an ordinary refrigerator, usually occurring between the door to the food compartment which is shown at 2, and the door (not shown) to the ice compartment above the member I, and, at the bottom of the ice compartment, the ice rack occurs, a portion of which is shown at 3. 4 represents the upper edge of the drip pan, spaced below the ice rack, and which, from the front of the refrigerator, is inclined downwardly towards the back thereof.

Intermediate of the front preferably rounded edge of the drip pan 4 and the head member of the food compartment door frame I is a portion of the air circulating space or conduit indicated at 5, the front portion of which is arcuate in shape to form the least obstruction possible to the circulation of the air. It is well known that in the ordinary refrigerator, or ice box, this space is left unobstructed at all times; however, such construction has been found to be very objectionable insofar as temperature conditions are concerned within the ice box and the consumption of ice, particularly in respect to the necessarily frequent opening of the door to the food compartment, and to control which the instant invention is devised.

The invention embodies the installation of the arcuately shaped preferably sheet metal damper B, pivotally mounted in its lower opposite corners as at I just beneath the top or head trim 8 of the door opening, a small metal bracket 9 being conveniently installed in each upper corner of the door opening for such purpose. As a simple form of such construction I have illustrated the lower edge of the damper 6 as being rolled into a circular head or hem indicated at H], and into the ends of which hem or bead is fixed in any desired manner the gudgeon or journal pins 1, r

they protruding beyond the end or stepped extremity of the bead and projecting into the bracket 9 at either end to form a simple and strong pivotal support for the damper. The upper end of the damper may be surrounded or provided in any other desired manner with a bead or strip-like piece of rubber indicated at l2 so that when the damper is in its closed position the free edge of the damper will tightly rest upon the arcuate upper surface of the drip pan 4, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 1.

The automatic control feature of the damper is accomplished as by the sector shaped piece of metal or bracket l3, bent at right angles at 'its smaller terminus or apex, forming a clip-like portion or flange M which may be spot Welded or otherwise fastened directly to the innermost portion of the bead of the damper and with the body portion of the bracket extending inwardly within the interior of the refrigerator. Within the free end of this bracket is formed the arcuate slot l5 into which is mounted a screw pin or bolt indiof the rubber roller 19, the stepped portion of the nut being sufficiently large in respect to the thickness of the roller to never bind same nor interfere with its free rotation. The outersurface of the nut Il may be knurled, if desired, to enhance the convenience of grasping same in the fingers and rotating when adjustment is required, it being understood that the extreme end of the screw threaded portion of the bolt It extends into the chamber l8 on the nut and after being installed may be slightly upset to prevent accidental dislodgmentof the nut on the bolt, as the interior of the larger portion of the nut is screw threaded for engagement with the similar portion of the bolt, and a buffer plate is illustrated at 20 fixed to 'the upper innermost corner of the door 2 for engagement with the'roller, such engagement al ways occurring when the door is closed irrespective of the position of the roller in the arcuate slot of the bracket l 3. It will be understood that if the roller 19 with its supporting nut and pin is adjusted to the upper corner of the bracket is the damper 6 will at all times remain closed whether the door is opened or not, whereas when in the position as illustrated in the drawing, the damper will remain closed only when the door is opened, but fully open when the door is closed.

The advantage of such an installation is readily understood when it is considered that all circulation of air upwardly to and beneath the ice rack is shut off the moment the food compartment door is opened, and the damper functions automatically to again open and permit free circulation of air when the door is closed.

The control of air circulation in the cooling compartment of a refrigerator as required by atmospheric conditions either in or out of the refrigerator being readily accomplished, is considered novel.

It will of course be obvious that the damper control mechanism is installed in the upper corner of the latch side of the door opening where the most direct thrust of the door against the roller of the mechanism occurs.

Having thus described my invention, what I .claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a refrigerator having a door, an ice rack, a drip pan, and an air circulating space intermediate of said ice rack and drip pan; a damper for regulating the flow of air through said space mounted adjacent said door, means fixed to said damper and depending in the path of said door, whereby upon opening of the door the damper will close said space, and vice versa, said means being adjustable to vary the limit of movement of the damper.

2. In a refrigerator having a door, an ice rack, a drip pan, and an air circulating space intermediate of said ice rack and drip pan; a damper for regulating the flow of air through said space mounted adjacent said door and operable thereby, a bracket in the path of the door and fixed to the damper, and means for adjusting the bracket to vary the limit of movement of the damper. I 3. In a refrigerator having a door, anice rack, a drip pan, and an air circulating space intermediate of said ice rack and drip pan; a damper for regulating the flow of air through said space mounted adjacent said door and operable thereby, a bracket fixed to said damper and movable therewith, adjustable means on said bracket and in the path of said door whereby the limit of movement of said damper may be varied.

4. In a refrigerator having a door, an ice rack, a drip pan, and an air circulating-space intermediate of said ice rack and drip pan; a damper for regulating the flow of air through said space mounted adjacent said door and operable thereby, a bracket fixed to said damper and having a slot therein, means adjustably held within said slot and in the path of the door and whereby the limit of movement of said damper may be varied.

5. The combination withia refrigerator having an air circulating conduit therein, of a damper for regulating the flow of through said conduit mounted adjacent the door of the refrigerator and operable thereby, a bracket fixed to said a drip pan, and an air cooling and circulating compartment intermediate of said ice rack and drip pan, damper means at the entrance to said compartment to regulate the fiow of air therethrough, means fixed to said damper means and having selectively adjustable means thereon projecting in the path of and operable by said door to vary the limit of movement of said damper means.

7. In a refrigerator having a door, an ice rack, a drip pan, and an air cooling and circulating compartment intermediate or said ice rack and drip pan, damper means at the entrance to said compartment to regulate the flow of air therethrough, with operating means depending from said damper means and in the path of said door, said operating means being adjustable to vary the limit of. movement in one direction of said damper means. a

8. The combination with a refrigerator having an air circulating conduit therein, of a damper for regulating the flow of air through said conduit and operable by the door of the refrigerator, a bracket fixed to said damper, a means adjustably held to said bracket and projecting in the path of the door whereby the limit of movement of said damper may be varied.

9. The combination with a refrigerator having an air circulating conduit therein, of a damper for regulating the flow of air through said conduit, and selectively adjustable means cooperaof the door and operable the limit of movement of thereby and whereby said damper may be varied.

MARTIN HOKAN SON. 

